Three European countries’ plan to formally recognize a Palestinian state may not have any meaningful impact on the ground, but it carries political and symbolic weight.
Spain, Norway and Ireland on Wednesday pledged to join more than 140 other nations that have recognized Palestinian statehood. That recognition however is unilateral and does not mean a Palestinian state will be recognized by the United Nations, where the Palestinian state only has observer status.
“For individual Palestinians on the ground in the Occupied Territories, it’s not going to mean anything at all in the short term, perhaps in the medium term,” H.A. Hellyer, scholar at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and the Royal United Services Institute for Defence and Security Studies in London, told CNN. “It is obviously political recognition by states that don’t have a presence on the ground.”
The planned recognition does, however, add pressure on Israel as it fights a controversial war in Gaza. Most of the international community considers the enclave, the West Bank and East Jerusalem as occupied Palestinian territory.
If more nations join, Israel could find itself further isolated on the world stage as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu continues to reject the prospect of an independent Palestinian state as a solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Hellyer said the Jewish state risks becoming an “international pariah” given that Western nations are now beginning to recognize a Palestinian state. While many countries recognize Palestinian statehood, few Western nations do — with the exception of some European Union states that had granted recognition when they were part of the Soviet Union.
“Western support for Israel is the bedrock of Israel’s security architecture,” Hellyer said. “It is deeply, deeply linked.”
The majority 193-member UN General Assembly has previously voted in favor of granting the state of Palestine full membership in the UN. Israel’s US ally has however blocked Palestine’s bid for membership during the Security Council vote in April.
